Jews caught using racist terms to refer to Blacks

It’s the N-word again but only in another language. It’s happening in Israel and has been going on but, now, a well known person has been caught.

Oded Tira, an Israeli basketball official, ignited flames by using a racist term to describe Black players on the popular team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Tira is the chairman of the newly established National Council for Sport. He called the players “Kushim” while congratulating Maccabi chairman Shimon Mizrahi for his teams win over Spain’s Real World Madrid in the Final Four of Euroleague basketball championship according to reports.

Kushi is a Hebrew slur for dark skinned people and but today its English equivalent is the N-word.

However some linguist’s say it depends on which syllable you stress. In English, we stress the first syllable so KU-shim would be racist. But not Ku-SHIM. So it is accurate to describe the use of Kushim as racist in Ashkenazi Hebrew because the emphasis is on the first syllable.

The term Kushim appears at least 20 times in the Bible and refers to Ethiopians in traditional Hebrew. In the Bible the term Kush is referred to as Ethiopia, the part of Black Africa that Biblical authors were most familiar with.

Tira received a huge backlash from those attending the event. Some even urged the council chairman to retract his comments according to reports. Tira apologized and said he did not mean to offend anyone.

Last year, David Lau, the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel, was condemned for a racist comment about Black basketball players at the Maccabiah Games.

Chief rabbis are very important in Israel. They have power. They even decide who is a Jew and who isn’t. They also have a lot of influence over Israeli policy.

Another incident also happened with the use of the now infamous “K-word.”

The mayor of Holon made some racist comments. Mayor Moti Sasson, in the company of public officials and sports personalities, attacked Black sports players according to reports. He reportedly said, “I don’t want to see foreigners in Israeli sport. If you want to see Kushim, watch the NBA.” He too apologized, saying he meant to refer only to foreigners and not insult Black people.

Israel is known for its harsh treatment of Blacks. They don’t treat Falasha’s Ethiopian Jews the same as Ashkenazi (White) Jews. They lock Black African migrants up in detention camps until they voluntarily leave.

This has been well covered by international media outlets.

This feeling is even seen in diasporan Jews like Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, who got caught on tape using the N-word. The use of the N-word in English and Kushim in Ashkenazi Hebrew is common. What is not common, prominent people getting caught.